Death by People Pleasing: Part 4
Today we are going to examine how one man's desire for people's approval nearly toppled a kingdom. The man was King Saul, and his life exemplifies what the Bible calls "fear of man."
Saul's saga can be found in 1 Samuel 9-31. He was Israel's first king, and his insecurities showed immediately. When Saul was to be appointed king (Chapter 10), he was found hiding in the baggage. No kidding. It doesn't take long to discover Saul's baggage: fear of man.
His first blunder was in Chapter 13, when he was battling the Philistines. Before entering the skirmish, he was supposed to wait for Samuel (the prophet) to give an offering to the Lord. When Samuel delayed, and Saul's troops got nervous, he caved under pressure to keep his men happy and performed the ritual himself - a major no-no under the Old Covenant.
The next colossal mistake came when Saul was ordered by God to wipe out the Amalekites, right down to their livestock. Samuel shows up after the Israelite victory, only to hear the sounds of Amalekite livestock and see the Amalekite king still alive. Dumbfounded, Samuel asks Saul about his defiance of God's direct order. Saul's answer? He blamed it on his troops. He said the troops wanted the spoils. His fear of man overrode his fear of God. At that point, Samuel told him God was going to take the throne from him and give it to someone else.
The Philistine war waged on, and, by the time Goliath hit the scene and started taunting the Israelites, Saul was nowhere near the battle line. Instead, he was at a camp offering tax exemptions and his daughter to anyone brave enough to fight Goliath. Enter David, who right away showed that he did not suffer from fear of man, no matter how big man was! All it took to launch David into action was to hear Goliath talking trash about his God. He took one look at Goliath and decided he could whoop him because he knew God would be with him. A slingshot and stone later, Israel had a new hero.
Not surprisingly, King Saul couldn't stand it. He heard the people singing David's praises and went mad with envy. He so craved the people's approval that he began hunting David, determined to kill what he considered his rival. The sad part was that David loved Saul and wouldn't lift a finger against him. Saul spent the rest of his sad life shadowboxing with his insecurities. He eventually died by his own hand because he was afraid of enemy capture. David became the new king, and King David is where we will begin our study on the antidote to the fear of man - fear of the Lord.
CRIS CORZINE-MCCLOSKEY is a licensed clinical social worker and director of Caring Counseling Ministries, located at 1410 W. Chestnut St. in Marion. It is a not-for-profit corporation that provides counseling from a Biblical perspective at an affordable cost for Southern Illinois residents. To make an appointment, call (618) 997-2129.</group><group id="BEB9709A-146A-49C3-8D4B-9CC0F104231B" type="seoLabels"><seoLabels></seoL